The Return of the Dancing Master

Herbert Molin, a retired police officer, lives alone in a remote cottage in northern Sweden. Two things seem to consume him; his passion for the tango, and an obsession with the "demons" he believes to be pursuing him. Early one morning shots shatter Molin's window- by the time his body is found it is almost unrecognisable. Stefan Lindman is another off-the-job police officer.

An Event in Autumn

Some cases aren't as cold as you'd think. Kurt Wallander's life looks like it has taken a turn for the better when his offer on a new house is accepted, only for him to uncover something unexpected in the garden - the skeleton of a middle-aged woman.As police officers comb the property, Wallander attempts to get his new life back on course by finding the woman's killer with the aid of his daughter, Linda. But when another discovery is made in the garden, Wallander is forced to delve further back into the area's past.

Faceless Killers

One frozen January morning at 5am, Inspector Wallander responds to what he believes is a routine call out. When he reaches the isolated farmhouse he discovers a bloodbath. An old man has been tortured and beaten to death, his wife lies barely alive beside his shattered body, both victims of a violence beyond reason. Wallander's life is a shambles. His wife has left him, his daughter refuses to speak to him, and even his ageing father barely tolerates him.

Before the Frost: An Inspector Wallander Mystery

The leader of a religious cult in Guyana instigates a mass suicide. He succeeds in killing himself and his whole flock of worshippers, save one. One man escapes. In the wood in the country land outside Ystad, the police make an horrific discovery: a severed head, and hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victim's side, handwritten corrections and amendments on every page.

The Man From Beijing

One cold January day the police are called to a sleepy little hamlet in the north of Sweden where they discover a savagely murdered man lying in the snow. As they begin their investigation they notice that the village seems eerily quiet and deserted. Going from house to house, looking for witnesses, they uncover a crime unprecedented in Swedish history. When Judge Birgitta Roslin reads about the massacre, she realises that she has a family connection to one of the couples involved and decides to investigate.

Kennedy's Brain

When archaeologist Louise Cantor's son Henrik is found dead in his flat, she refuses to believe it was suicide. Clues that only a mother could detect lead her to believe something more sinister took place. Henrik had kept many things back from her and she is shocked to learn he had contracted HIV. The only lead is a letter and photograph from Henrik's girlfriend in Mozambique. Louise's quest to unravel the mystery surrounding her son's death takes her to Africa.

I'm Travelling Alone

When a six-year-old girl is found dead, hanging from a tree, the only clue the Oslo Police have to work with is an airline tag around her neck. It reads, 'I'm travelling alone'. Holger Munch, veteran police investigator, is immediately charged with reassembling his homicide unit. But to complete the team, he must convince his erstwhile partner, Mia Krüger - a brilliant but troubled investigator - to return from the solitary island where she has retreated with plans to take her own life.

The Eye of the Leopard

Hans Olofson is the son of a Swedish lumberjack. His early life is isolated and difficult, overshadowed by the disappearance of his mother. When he loses both his best friend, and then his girlfriend in tragic circumstances, his only remaining desire is to fulfil her dream of visiting the grave of a legendary missionary, deep in the remote hills of Northern Zambia.On reaching Africa, Olofson is struck by its beauty and mystery.

Depths

October 1914: the destroyer Svea emerged from the Stockholm archipelago bearing south-south-east. On board was Lars Tobiasson-Svartman, a naval engineer charged with making depth soundings to find a navigable channel for the Swedish navy. As a child Tobiasson-Svartman was fascinated by measurement; nothing is as magical as exact knowledge.

Quicksand

In January 2014 I was informed that I had cancer. However, Quicksand is not a book about death and destruction but about what it means to be human. I have undertaken a journey from my childhood to the man I am today, writing about the key events in my life and about the people who have given me new perspectives. About men and women I have never met but wish I had. I write about love and jealousy, about courage and fear. And about what it is like to live with a potentially fatal illness.

The Shadow Girls

Tea-Bag, a young African girl, has fled a refugee camp in Spain for the promise of a new life in Sweden. Tania has made a long and dangerous journey to escape the horrors of human trafficking. Leyla has come with her family from Iran. All of them are facing different challenges in their new home. Meanwhile, celebrated poet Jesper Humlin is looking for inspiration. Harried by his mother and girlfriend, misunderstood by his publisher and tormented by his stockbroker, Jesper needs a new perspective on life.

A Treacherous Paradise

A Treacherous Paradise sees Henning Mankell turn his talents for writing gripping thrillers to a world where power and powerlessness meet and passion is a dangerous commodity. Hanna Lundmark escapes the brutal poverty of rural Sweden for a job as a cook onboard a steamship headed for Australia. Jumping ship at the African port of Lourenço Marques, Hanna decides to begin her life afresh. Stumbling across what she believes to be a down-at-heel hotel, Hanna becomes embroiled in a sequence of events that lead to her inheriting the most successful brothel in town.

Lennox

Glasgow, 1953, is a hard city at a hard time. The war may be over but the battle for the streets is just beginning, and shady investigator Lennox is the man in the middle. The McGahern twins were on the way up until Tam, the brains of the outfit, becomes the victim of a vicious contract killing. Tam's brother Frankie turns to Lennox to find out who killed his twin. Lennox refuses. Later that night, Frankie turns up dead, and Lennox finds himself in the frame for murder.

Headhunters

Roger Brown has it all. He's the country's most successful headhunter. He has a beautiful wife and a magnificent house. And to maintain this lifestyle, he's also a highly accomplished art thief. At a gallery opening, his wife introduces him to Clas Greve. Not only is Greve the perfect candidate for a position with one of Roger's high-profile clients, he is also in possession of 'The Calydonian Boar Hunt' by Rubens, one of the most sought-after paintings in the world.

The Grave Tattoo

When torrential summer rains uncover a bizarrely tattooed body on a Lake District hillside, old wives' tales also come swirling to the surface. For centuries Lakelanders have whispered that Fletcher Christian staged the massacre on Pitcairn so that he could return home. And there he told his story to an old friend and schoolmate, William Wordsworth, who turned it into a long narrative poem.

Mercy: Department Q, Book 1

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of Jussi Adler-Olsen's Mercy, Scandinavia's new bestselling crime phenomenon. Read by the actor Steven Pacey. At first the prisoner scratches at the walls until her fingers bleed. But there is no escaping the room. With no way of measuring time, her days, weeks, months go unrecorded. She vows not to go mad. She will not give her captors the satisfaction.

Zero Day: John Puller, Book 1

John Puller is a former war hero and now the best military investigator in the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigative Division. He is a loner with few possessions by preference, but he has an indomitable spirit and an unstoppable determination for finding the truth. His father was the most decorated U.S. Marine in history, but now resides in a nursing home far from his battlefield glory. Puller's older brother, also a military vet, is serving a life sentence in Leavenworth Penitentiary. Puller is called out to a remote, rural area far from any military outpost to investigate into the brutal murder of a family....

The Cold Calling

When Maiden is revived in hospital after dying in a hit and run incident, his memories are not the familiar ones of bright lights and angelic music, only of a cold, harsh place he has no wish to revisit...ever. But his experience means that Bobby Maiden may be the only person who can reach The Green Man, a serial murderer who returns to stone circles and burial mounds in the belief that he is defending Britain's sacred heritage.

The Bat: A Harry Hole Thriller, Book 1

Harry is out of his depth. Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl taking a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can. He's not supposed to get too involved. When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will talk only to Harry. He might just be the next victim.

The Son

Sonny's on the run. Sonny is a model prisoner. He listens to the confessions of other inmates, and absolves them of their sins. He's been lied to his whole life. But then one prisoner's confession changes everything. He knows something about Sonny's disgraced father. Sonny wants revenge. He needs to break out of prison and make those responsible pay for their crimes. Whatever the cost.

Saturday Requiem

It was an open-and-shut case when 18-year-old Hannah Docherty was arrested for the brutal murder of her family; she's been incarcerated ever since. When psychotherapist Frieda Klein is asked to assess Hannah, she reluctantly agrees. What she finds horrifies her.... Frieda is haunted by the thought that Hannah might be as much of a victim as her family. Frieda soon begins to realise that she's up against someone who'll go to any lengths to protect themselves....

Single & Single

A corporate lawyer from the House of Single & Single is shot dead on a Turkish hillside for crimes that he does not understand. A children's entertainer in Devon is hauled to his local bank late at night to explain a monumental influx of cash. A Russian freighter is arrested in the Black Sea.... The logical connection of these events and more is one of the many pleasures of this story of love, deceit, family and the triumph of humanity.

The Black Rose of Florence

A strikingly beautiful young woman is found dead in her Florence apartment. She lays on her bed, naked, a black rose between her legs. And the murders do not stop there: shortly afterwards, a woman is burned to death in a church, and a man is shot on the Ponte Vecchio. Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara is all too familiar with the dark side of Florence.

Holy Island: The DCI Ryan Mysteries, Book 1

Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island seeking sanctuary when he is forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective. A few days before Christmas, his peace is shattered, and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby priory. When former local girl Dr. Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface, making her confront her difficult past.

Publisher's Summary

Once a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago. Nearly twelve years have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic mishap on the operating table. One morning in the depths of winter, he sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice. His past is about to catch up with him.

The figure approaching in the freezing cold is Harriet, the only woman he has ever loved, the woman he abandoned in order to go and study in America forty years earlier. She has sought him out in the hope that he will honour a promise made many years ago. Now in the late stages of a terminal illness, she wants to visit a small lake in northern Sweden, a place Welin's father took him once as a boy. He upholds his pledge and drives her to this beautiful pool hidden deep in the forest. On the journey through the desolate snow-covered landscape, Welin reflects on his impoverished childhood and the woman he later left behind.

However, once there Welin discovers that Harriet has left the biggest surprise until last.Italian Shoes is as compelling as it is disturbing. Through his anti-hero Welin, Mankell tackles ageing and death with sensitivity and acuity, and as with the critically acclaimed Depths, delivers a moving tour-de-force on the frailty of mankind.

After having finished reading Henning Mankell's novel "Depths" a few months ago, I felt strangely sad because I had the feeling that this exceptional book would probably be just a one-off by the Wallander author. However, with "Italian Shoes" Mankell did it again. Although about aging, sickness and death, this novel is extraordinarily positive and in parts even funny. The warmth of this introspective tale of an old man who gets finally confronted with a past he fled long ago is superbly enhanced by Sean Barrett?s powerful narration and, of course, Laurie Thompson?s excellent English translation. With "Italian Shoes", Mankell is once again on par with his Nordic peers Jostein Gaarder, Peter Hoeg or even Knut Hamsun. The Wallander books are by all means great but they have "branded" this author in such a way that "Depths" or "Italian Shoes" are quite unexpected -- which might lead to misunderstandings with readers who are just after a good crime read.

This book is so different from the dark and brutal Inspector Wallander series of books it amazes me how it could be the same author. This book is like a slow walk in the park it meanders on without offense. It talks of the life of a retired surgeon who has hidden himself away on his ancestral island and how one decision he made many years before comes back and changes his life forever. Nothing especially happens in this book it is just a gentle tale of an old mans life and how new people enter it and change him forever. It end a little abruptly as I found in a previous Mankell Novel, leaving you with plenty of questions but it is not a bad thing.

The book has charm and if your looking for a gentle story that you can listen to with ease then give it a try.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not exactly a light and airy book but then again I wouldn't expect that from Henning Mankell. In the end I was caring for the characters and rooting for them which is a good sign for a book of this demeanour.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have made it lighter, but then again I haven't sold a book, Henning has sold millions so something works.

Would you consider the audio edition of Italian Shoes to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print edition

Who was your favorite character and why?

I thought the postman was an excellent character, his delight at finally being ill was evident and reminded me of a postie we once had.

Have you listened to any of Sean Barrett’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Sean Barrett always reads so well and it is no different with this performance. He conveys the nuances of the work very well and brings across the mood of the characters superbly.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The visit to the pond was a stand-out moment.

Any additional comments?

As with Mankell's later Wallender novels there is a darkness about his characters, the various events and reactions lend to this. There is a hint of redemption at the end but overlaid with an inevitability that there will be an end. Jolly stuff.

Would you try another book written by Henning Mankell or narrated by Sean Barrett?

I have listened to all the Wallander books available, and love the stories and Sean Barrett's narration. Sean Barrett read this book as well as usual and I did listen until the end to find out what happened. I enjoyed the fist part of the book and was interested in the main characters, but as the book went on I just found the whole thing far too bleak. I think was was to do with not liking or empathising with any of the characters enough. All in all, a depressing experience!

This book is on a different level from Wallander, it is well constructed, and thought through. Sean Barrett is a supreme deliverer of Mankells prose, however the theme is somewhat depressing, as it seems to revolve around death. It wasn't helped by the lack of a plot, we just drifted through the book, wondering how our hero would resolve his life. He started out on his island in self imposed exile, missed great chunks of his life whilst he was there stewing in his self pity, missed out on his daughters childhood, blaming his girlfriend because she hadn't told him she had had his child, though why he had expected that, is beyond me as he had basically walked out on her with no explanation.The dots of his life begin connecting after the long suffering girlfriend arrives at his island, terminally ill and through this encounter he meets his daughter, and we discover why he has run away to the island all those years ago.So it drifts on, all the time the greyness of the Scandinavian winter swirls around us, and the gloom descends. I felt encumbered by gloom and thoughts of my own mortality began to creep into my thoughts whilst listening,so much so I turned off the audio, so I could return to the sunshine. The book is well written, and I love Sean Barrett's delivery, but I just wanted to cry.

If you’ve listened to books by Henning Mankell before, how does this one compare?

A great disappointment

What does Sean Barrett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Sean Barrett has a deep melodic voice. Apart from that if I was reading this book I would struggle with pronouncing names and places, which would frustrate me.

Could you see Italian Shoes being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

No it would be very depressing and probably account for a number of suicides.

Any additional comments?

It hasn't put me off Henning Mankell, I just think that he must have written this book when he himself was facing a crisis of his own.

Sean Barrett is a truly gifted Narrator and, once again, he takes Mankell readers on a deeply moving, original and authentic exploration of the human condition. Mankell understands the inner-worlds we all inhabit without being diverted into cliche or indulgence. His descriptions of the Swedish landscape and season augment the narrative beautifully. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Anna

Carcassonne, France

19/12/10

Overall

"Surprising and Profound"

I have just finished listening to this extraordinary book. It is unlike anything else I have read by Henning Mankell and I loved it. It is a story of lives meeting, parting and intersecting; of love, trust, betrayal and forgiveness, which provokes and moves. Mankell has created a work that challenges predjudice and pre-conception and which generously salutes our shared humanity but he does so with his usual vigour so we are never bored. Brilliant. I salute too the narrator Sean Barrett who reads beautifully and with his usual intelligence and understanding.
I also want to get my feet into some of those Italian Shoes!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.